SL v IND 2021: 3 biggest disappointments from Team India on Sri Lanka white-ball tour

India won the ODI series 2-1, but lost the T20I series 1-2 to Sri Lanka.

The Indian team ended its Sri Lanka tour on a losing note as they lost the last two T20I matches of the 3-match series. This resulted in Sri Lanka defeating them in a bilateral series for the first time in 13 years. India had won the three-match ODI series 2-1 before the T20I encounters.

India had won the ODI series with a new look squad led by first-time captain Shikhar Dhawan and vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The team had many new faces since the first-choice players are on a tour of the UK for the five-Test series against England.

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The entire series saw many new faces making their debuts for India with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan, Prithvi Shaw, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, and Suryakumar Yadav amongst others making debuts in either ODIs or T20Is or both.

Many players impressed one and all in the handful of opportunities they received, given that it was their chance to make an impression on national selectors ahead of the T20 World Cup 2021. However, some of the players disappointed a lot and perhaps jeopardized their chances as well.

Team COC, therefore looks at three such Indian players who disappointed a lot on the Sri Lanka white-ball tour.

NITISH RANA

Nitish Rana was handed India debuts in both ODI and T20I format on this tour. He made his ODI debut in the 3^rd match and made 7 runs. He got to play 2 T20Is as well and scored a total of 15 runs. This was a hugely disappointing performance for him, though he was playing out of position at no.5.

Rana had a good chance to impress the selectors in tough conditions in the last two T20I matches, as India was missing 9 first-choice players in the XI due to the COVID situation.

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The going was tough and had Rana stuck it out and make 30-40 runs helping India put up a decent total on the board, it would have been more valuable than a half-century or a century.

Unfortunately, with almost no room in the middle order with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul coming in, Nitish Rana can only hope of an extraordinary outing in the second half of IPL 2021 for him to make it to the T20 World Cup 2021 squad.  

HARDIK PANDYA

Hardik Pandya was coming off a long layoff after the IPL 2021 was postponed in May 2021. He was even looked at as one of the captaincy options for the Sri Lanka tour before Shikhar Dhawan was handed the reins.

Being one of the senior players on this Sri Lanka white-ball tour, much was expected from the Baroda all-rounder. However, in the four matches he played, he made 19 runs in 3 ODI matches and 10 runs in the only T20I he played. He picked 2 wickets in ODIs and one wicket in the T20I match.

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Unfortunately, he was unable to provide those last over fireworks with the bat and struggled to get the bat on the ball. Only heartening thing was to see him bowl at full tilt, despite looking in some discomfort in one of the matches.

He is a vital cog in the Indian team and the management will hope he finds form with the bat and keeps himself fit during the IPL 2021 and be ready for the T20 World Cup 2021.

SANJU SAMSON

This tour was seen as one of the biggest opportunities for Kerala’s uber-talented wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson to show his mettle, especially as a batsman.

He was competing for a spot in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup 2021 with other keeper-batsmen like Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, and KL Rahul, who have already established themselves as amazing batsmen and glovesmen.

Meanwhile, Samson, who made his India debut in 2015, and got back in the national reckoning in 2020, has been given ample opportunities in T20Is to establish himself, but apart from a small glimpse of his amazing hitting abilities, Samson has not been able to get rid of his tendency to throw away his wicket.

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Unfortunately, this habit followed him on the Sri Lanka tour as well, as he made an amazing run-a-ball 46 in the 3^rd ODI, which was his debut in 50-over international cricket. However, he threw away his wicket going for an unnecessary shot in the air.

In the two T20Is he played, Samson made 27 in the first match, 7 in the second, and a duck in the third and final match. In the second T20I, Samson, who batted at no.4 spot had the chance to help India post an above-par final total, but he gave away his wicket trying to hit Dhananjaya de Silva out of the ground and getting bowled for 7 runs.

After these performances, Samson has possibly fallen down the rung behind first-choice Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan for the T20 World Cup 2021. He can only hope for a bumper outing in the second phase of the IPL 2021 for an outside chance.